Virtual location management computing system and methods thereof

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for allowing stakeholders in the video production industry to perform location scouting and other film-related processes via virtual reality devices. Imagery can be collected from a plurality of different physical locations. Subsequently, directors, location managers, directors of photography, production designers, and others, can virtually view each of the different physical locations using a virtual reality device. Attributes regarding the physical locations that are relative to filming can also be collected and provided to the users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/737,981, filed on Jan. 9, 2020, entitled VIRTUAL LOCATION MANAGEMENTCOMPUTING SYSTEM AND METHODS THEREOF, which claims the benefit of U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/797,428, filed on Jan. 28,2019, entitled VIRTUAL LOCATION MANAGEMENT COMPUTING SYSTEM AND METHODSTHEREOF, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Location scouting is a process that typically occurs in thepre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Oncescriptwriters, producers, or directors have decided what general kind ofscenery they require for the various parts of their work that is shotoutside of the studio, the search for a suitable place or “location”outside the studio begins. Depending on the project, location scoutingtrips may include one or more people, such as a director, a locationmanager, a director of photography and a production designer. Locationscouting trips may involve extensive travel between various locations ofinterest. As a result, location scouting activities can be timeconsuming, expensive, and logistically complicated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be more readily understood from a detaileddescription of some example embodiments taken in conjunction with thefollowing figures:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts real-world locations having physicalproperties that can be collected by the virtual location managementcomputing system for subsequent presentation to a user of the system ina virtual reality environment.

FIG. 2 schematically depicts a non-limiting example location scoutingdata that is catalogued and stored by a database of a virtual locationmanagement computing system.

FIG. 3 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that is viewable by auser.

FIG. 4 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that includes aninteractive menu that is viewable by a user.

FIG. 5 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that shows locationattributes of a location to the user.

FIG. 6 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that shows an attributelisting of a location to the user.

FIG. 7 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that has a note takinginterface for the user.

FIG. 8 schematically depicts a virtual location management computingsystem providing a virtual reality environment that has a ratinginterface for the user.

FIG. 9A depicts the collection of imagery of a real-world accessory by acamera system for use by a virtual location management computing system.

FIG. 9B shows a virtual accessory placed within a virtual location of avirtual reality environment by a virtual location management computingsystem.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example navigation interface that can bepresented to a user within a virtual reality environment.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a plurality of users that are eachviewing a respective virtual reality environment using a virtual realitydevice in communication with a virtual location management computingsystem.

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a virtual location managementcomputing system aiding with monitoring the progress of a setconstruction process.

FIG. 13 schematically illustrates a virtual location managementcomputing system aiding with set dressing documentation.

FIG. 14 is an example process flow that can be executed by a virtuallocation management computing system in accordance with one non-limitingembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now bedescribed to provide an overall understanding of the principles of thestructure, function, and use of a virtual location management computingsystem as disclosed herein. One or more examples of these non-limitingembodiments are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Those ofordinary skill in the art will understand that systems and methodsspecifically described herein and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings are non-limiting embodiments. The features illustrated ordescribed in connection with one non-limiting embodiment may be combinedwith the features of other non-limiting embodiments. Such modificationsand variations are intended to be included within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “someembodiments,” “one embodiment,” “some example embodiments,” “one exampleembodiment,” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with any embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,”“some example embodiments,” “one example embodiment, or “in anembodiment” in places throughout the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particularfeatures, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitablemanner in one or more embodiments.

Throughout this disclosure, references to components or modulesgenerally refer to items that logically can be grouped together toperform a function or group of related functions. Like referencenumerals are generally intended to refer to the same or similarcomponents. Components and modules can be implemented in software,hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The term softwareis used expansively to include not only executable code, but also datastructures, data stores, and computing instructions in any electronicformat, firmware, and embedded software. The terms information and dataare used expansively and can include a wide variety of electronicinformation, including but not limited to machine-executable ormachine-interpretable instructions; content such as text, video data,and audio data, among others; and various codes or flags. The termsinformation, data, and content are sometimes used interchangeably whenpermitted by context.

The examples discussed herein are examples only and are provided toassist in the explanation of the systems and methods described herein.None of the features or components shown in the drawings or discussedbelow should be taken as mandatory for any specific implementation ofany of these systems and methods unless specifically designated asmandatory. For ease of reading and clarity, certain components, modules,or methods may be described solely in connection with a specific figure.Any failure to specifically describe a combination or sub-combination ofcomponents should not be understood as an indication that anycombination or sub-combination is not possible. Also, for any methodsdescribed, regardless of whether the method is described in conjunctionwith a flow diagram, it should be understood that unless otherwisespecified or required by context, any explicit or implicit ordering ofsteps performed in the execution of a method does not imply that thosesteps must be performed in the order presented but instead may beperformed in a different order or in parallel.

Described herein are example embodiments of a virtual locationmanagement computing system for providing virtual reality and/oraugmented reality environments for use by various users, such asstakeholders in the video production industry. Example users of thesystem can include, without limitations, directors, location managers,directors of photography, production designers, gaffers, grips, setdressers, set designers, set builders, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a virtual location managementcomputing system 100 is depicted. Generally, the virtual locationmanagement computing system 100 can be used to store 360-degree spatialinformation regarding various locations 120A-N for on-demandpresentation to one or more users via a virtual reality interface. FIG.1 schematically depicts real-world locations 120A-N that arerepresentative of any suitable physical location having properties thatcan be collected by the virtual location management computing system 100for subsequent presentation to a user of the system. In this regard, thereal-world locations 120A-N can be anywhere in the world and can beeither inside or outside environments. Thus, while FIG. 1 shows each ofthe locations 120A-N as residential rooms for the purposes ofillustration, this disclosure is not so limited.

In order to collect data from each of the real-world locations 120A-N,any suitable type of camera system 122 can be physically positionedwithin the environment. As is to be appreciated, the camera system 122can be a 360-degree camera that includes a plurality of different imagecapturing devices in order to collect information from the real-worldlocation 120A-N in a 360-degree format. Example camera systems 122include, for example, the Insta360 Pro II Spherical VR 360 8K and theRicoh Theta SC Spherical Digital Camera. The camera system 122 can begenerally stationary, as illustrated, or can be physically moved throughthe environment as it collects data. Further, in some embodiments, thecamera system 122 can be a volumetric camera. In some embodiments, thecamera system 122 can be used to collect imagery from the locations120A-N at different times of day, such as sunrise, noon, sunset, and/ornight so that subsequent viewers of the location in a virtual realityenvironment can choose the time of day that most closely matches thescene they would be shooting at the location.

The spatial information collected by the camera system 122 for each ofthe real-world locations 120A-N can be transmitted to the virtuallocation management computing system 100 using any suitable datatransmission techniques. In some embodiments, additionallocation-specific information, sometimes referred to as attributes, canalso be provided to the virtual location management computing system 100by a user. The location-specific information can include, for example,technical information regarding the location, such as utilityinformation, parking information, and so forth. The location-specificinformation can also include dimensional information, such as the sizeof doorways, and so forth. The location-specific information can alsoinclude logistical information, such as the distance to the closetairport, the location of the closest hospital, and so forth. Generally,the location-specific information can include any information that maybe useful by a user to determine whether a particular real-worldlocation is suitable for the needs of a particular project.

The virtual location management computing system 100 can be providedusing any suitable processor-based device or system, such as a personalcomputer, laptop, server, mainframe, or a collection (e.g., network) ofmultiple computers, for example. The virtual location managementcomputing system 100 can include one or more processors 102 and one ormore computer memory units 104. For convenience, only one processor 102and only one memory unit 104 are shown in FIG. 1 . The processor 102 canexecute software instructions stored on the memory unit 104. Theprocessor 102 can be implemented as an integrated circuit (IC) havingone or multiple cores. The memory unit 104 can include volatile and/ornon-volatile memory units. Volatile memory units can include randomaccess memory (RAM), for example. Non-volatile memory units can includeread only memory (ROM), for example, as well as mechanical non-volatilememory systems, such as, for example, a hard disk drive, an optical diskdrive, etc. The RAM and/or ROM memory units can be implemented asdiscrete memory ICs, for example.

The memory unit 104 can store executable software and data for thevirtual reality platform described herein. When the processor 102 of thevirtual location management computing system 100 executes the software,the processor 102 can be caused to perform the various operations of thevirtual location management computing system 100, such as collectinginformation from real-world locations, hosting an interface to allowusers to select certain locations for viewing, presenting the locationsin virtual reality environments, tracking ratings and notes regardingthe environments, and tracking and presenting attributes associated withthe various locations.

Data used by the virtual location management computing system 100 can befrom various sources, such as a database(s) 106, which can be electroniccomputer databases, for example. The data stored in the database(s) 106can be stored in a non-volatile computer memory, such as a hard diskdrive, a read only memory (e.g., a ROM IC), or other types ofnon-volatile memory. In some embodiments, one or more databases 106 canbe stored on a remote electronic computer system, for example. As it tobe appreciated, a variety of other databases, or other types of memorystorage structures, can be utilized or otherwise associated with thevirtual location management computing system 100.

The virtual location management computing system 100 can include one ormore computer servers, which can include one or more web servers, one ormore application servers, and/or one or more other types of servers. Forconvenience, only one web server 110 and one application server 108 aredepicted in FIG. 1 , although one having ordinary skill in the art wouldappreciate that the disclosure is not so limited. The servers 108, 110can allow content to be sent or received in any of a number of formats,which can include, but are not limited to, text-based messages,multimedia messages, email messages, smart phone notifications, webpages, and other message formats. The servers 108, 110 can be comprisedof processors (e.g. CPUs), memory units (e.g. RAM, ROM), non-volatilestorage systems (e.g. hard disk drive systems), and other elements.

In some embodiments, the web server 110 can provide a graphical web userinterface through which various users can interact with the virtuallocation management computing system 100. The graphical web userinterface can also be referred to as a client portal, client interface,graphical client interface, and so forth. The web server 110 can acceptrequests, such as HTTP/HTTPS requests, from various entities, such asHTTP/HTTPS responses, along with optional data content, such as webpages (e.g. HTML documents) and linked objects (such as images, video,and so forth). The application server 108 can provide a user interface,for users who do not communicate with the virtual location managementcomputing system 100 using a web browser. Such users can have specialsoftware installed on their computing devices to allow the user tocommunicate with the application server 108 via a communication network.Through interactions with the web server 110 and/or the applicationserver 108, a user can manage attributes of various real-worldlocations, or otherwise interface with the virtual location managementcomputing system 100.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , a non-limiting example of location scoutingdata stored by the database 106 is schematically depicted. In someembodiments, a user of the virtual location management computing system100 can interact with an interface to search and navigate the locationscouting data to identify a real-world location suitable for a project.Users of the virtual location management computing system 100 can accessthe data stored in the database 106 via any suitable type of interfaceand through any type of searching, such as keyword searching or naturallanguage queries, for example. As is to be appreciated, while an exampledata hierarchy is depicted in FIG. 2 , any suitable data hierarchy canbe used to store and access the data stored by the database 106.

In FIG. 2 , the hierarchy includes a city listing 130 that lists eachcity having locations stored by the system. Within each city, a locationtype listing 132 is provided. Thus, if a user knows a city in which theydesire to shoot, they can navigate to that city via an interface andview a listing of the location types that have been collected andcataloged. In this example embodiment, the location type listing 132 canallow a user to broadly select a particular type of location, such as arestaurant, an office, and so forth. Within location type, a locationsub-type listing 134 can be provided to a user for various locationtypes. The location sub-type listing 134 can allow a user to fine tunethe real-world locations that may be relevant to the project. As shown,virtual reality locations A-D appear in a VR location listing 136. Thevirtual reality locations A-D are thus locations where a camera system122 (FIG. 1 ) has been previously deployed to collect spatial data. Asshown, the database 106 can also store attributes 138 for each of thelocations for presentation to the user, as described in more detailbelow.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , once a real-world location has been selected,the virtual location management computing system 100 can host, orotherwise provided, a virtual reality environment 250 viewable by a user254 using any suitable virtual reality device 252. The virtual realitydevice 252 is schematically shown as a headset, such as those providedby Oculus®, HTC®, Samsung®, and so forth. However, the presentdisclosure is not limited to headsets, as any suitable device can beused to access the virtual reality environment. Furthermore, while notshown in FIG. 3 , it is to be appreciated that the virtual realitydevice 252 can include other accessories, such as handheld units orother types of controllers, to allow the user 254 to interact with thevirtual reality environment 250.

In FIG. 3 , the virtual location management computing system 100 ishosting a virtual location 220 for the user 254 that is representativeof the real-world location 120A (FIG. 1). In this regard, the user 254can have a 360-degree immersive experience in the virtual location 220based on the image data previously collected by the camera system 122(FIG. 1 ). Depending on the type of image information collected at thereal-world location 120A, the virtual location 220 can either be astatic image or can be a video. Further, in some embodiments, the user254 can select from various time of day options in order to view thelocation under various lighting conditions.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates an example menu 202 that can beprovided to user 254 by the virtual location management computing system100. The menu 202 can provide access to a number of different options orfeatures. The user 254 can interact with the menu 202 through anysuitable means, such as via voice command, a handheld controller, and/orgesture-based control. While the options on the menu 202 can vary,example menu options can allow the use 254 to view various attributes,take notes, provide a rating of the location, navigate between rooms orspaces within the location, and/or view a different location.

FIG. 5 illustrates example location attributes that may be presented tothe user 254 within the virtual reality environment 250. As shown,dimensions 204 are shown in an augmented reality technique in order toprovide the user 254 with pertinent dimensional information. Forexample, the dimensions 204 can provide information regarding doorwaysizes, window sizes, ceiling height, and so forth. In some embodiments,the dimensions 204 are manually collected during the visit to thereal-world location and entered into the virtual location managementcomputing system 100. In some embodiments, the dimensions 204 areautomatically determined through image processing and/or laser-aidedmeasurement techniques. As shown, the dimensions can overlay the imageryso that they appear next to the object they are referring to.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example attribute listing 206 that can bepresented to the user 254 within the virtual reality environment 250.The attribute listing 206 can include one or more attributes 138 (FIG. 2) of the location, such as power utility information, parkinginformation, hospital information, among a wide variety of otherlocation attributes that may be relevant to deciding if a location meetsthe needs of a particular shoot.

When the user 254 is immersed in the virtual reality environment 250,traditional handwritten note taking may not be practical. FIG. 7illustrates an example note taking interface 208 that can be presentedto the user 254 within the virtual reality environment 250. Accordingly,the note taking interface 208 can provide the user 254 the ability totake notes regarding the location 220 and subsequently access the notesvia interactions with the virtual location management computing system100. In the illustrated embodiment, the note taking interface 208provides a voice note option 210 to provide dictation-type note takingusing voice recognition technology. Additionally, a keyboard option 212can be selected by the user 254 to present a full QWERTY keyboard to theuser 254 within the virtual reality environment 250. The user 254 caninteract with the keyboard using a handheld controller, for example, totype notes.

In some embodiments, it may be desirable to track a score or othermetric for each location being viewed. FIG. 8 illustrates an examplerating interface 214 that can be presented to the user 254 within thevirtual reality environment 250. While the rating interface 214 isschematically illustrated as a star-based system, it is to be readilyappreciated that any suitable rating system can be utilized. The virtuallocation management computing system 100 can track the ratings providedby the user 254 and subsequently provide the ratings to the user 254through any suitable means, such as a report or an online interface, forexample.

In some embodiments, augmented reality techniques can be used by thevirtual location management computing system 100 to provide a user 254with additional information that may assist them with the decisionmaking processing. Referring to FIG. 9A, imagery from a real-worldaccessory 240 can be collected by a camera system 222 and provided tothe virtual location management computing system 100. While theaccessory 240 is schematically shown as a sofa, any suitable 3-D objectcan be scanned with the camera system 222 for subsequent placementwithin a virtual environment by the virtual location managementcomputing system 100. FIG. 9B shows a virtual accessory 242 placedwithin the virtual location 220. Accordingly, the user 254 can visualizehow the real-world accessory 240 would look within the physicalreal-world location 120A (FIG. 1 ) without requiring the real-worldaccessory 240 to physically be within the space.

As is to be appreciated, a user 254 of the virtual location managementcomputing system 100 may desire to view multiple locations within asingle session. FIG. 10 illustrates an example navigation interface 224that can be presented to the user 254 within the virtual realityenvironment 250. Through the navigation interface 224 the user 254 caninstruct the virtual location management computing system 100 to displayparticular locations within the virtual reality environment 250. Whilearrow-based navigation is depicted in FIG. 10 , it is to be appreciatedthat any suitable navigation interface 224 can be used.

As provided above, more than one use may be involved in selecting areal-world location for a particular shoot or project. In accordancewith the present disclosure, multiple users can simultaneously bepresented with various locations within respective virtual realityenvironments. FIG. 11 schematically illustrates users 354A-D that areeach viewing a virtual location 320 in their respective virtual realityenvironment 350A-D using a virtual reality device 352A-D incommunication with a virtual location management computing system 300.As is to be appreciated, each of the virtual reality device 352A-D canbe in communication with the virtual location management computingsystem 300 through any suitable network connection. Each of the users354A-D may be physically within the same location (i.e., a conferenceroom) or they may be physically remote from one another. The users354A-D can be, for example, various people associated with a shoot, suchas a director, a location manager, a director of photography or aproduction designer. In some embodiments, one of the users 354A-D cansimultaneously control the virtual reality environments 350A-D of all ofthe users 354A-D. In FIG. 11 , the user 354A has universal control overall the virtual reality environments 350A-D. Accordingly, the user 354Ais shown being presented with a navigation interface 324 for selectingwhich location is presented to all of the users 354A-D.

As is to be appreciated, the group of users 354A-D may virtually visit alarge number of different locations in a single viewing sessions. In theillustrated embodiment, a rating interface 314A-D is shown beingpresented to each of the users 354A-D to collect rating information fromeach user. Using the rating interface 314A-D, the virtual locationmanagement computing system 300 can aid in tracking and compilingfeedback from each of the users 354A-D.

It is noted that in some embodiments each user 354A-D can also bepresented with a menu, similar to the menu 202 in FIG. 4 , for example,within their respective virtual reality environments 350A-D. Each user354A-D can therefore individually view various attributes associatedwith the location, such as a measurements, and so forth. Furthermore,while FIG. 11 depicts the user 354A generally controlling the viewsession, in some implementations, each of the users 354A-D canindependently navigate between various virtual locations.

FIGS. 12-13 schematically depict additional implementations of a virtuallocation management computing system 400 to aid with various aspects ofvideo production. Referring first to FIG. 12 , the virtual locationmanagement computing system 400 can aid with monitoring the progress ofset construction without requiring a user 454 to physically travel to alocation 402 where a set 404 is being built. A camera system 422 can bepositioned at the location 402, such as a soundstage, for collecting360-degree image data (still imagery and/or video imagery). The imagedata can be supplied to the virtual location management computing system400 for remote viewing by the user 454 using a virtual reality device452. In some embodiments, the user 454 can view a real-time video feedfrom the camera system 422. In other embodiments, the user 454 accessesimages that were collected by the camera system 422 at a previous pointin time. In other embodiments, the user 454 accesses a series oftime-lapse images that were collected by the camera system 422 over aparticular time span. In any event, the user 454 can view a virtual set406 within a virtual environment 450 that is hosted by the virtuallocation management computing system 400. Thus, a set designer can, forexample, check in with the status of the set build without having totravel to the location 402 of the build.

Further, in some embodiments, attributes such as measurements 408 can beadded to the virtual set 406 through augmented reality. Such attributescan confirm that the set 404 is conforming to the set design. In someembodiments, a rendering of the completed set can be overlaid within thevirtual environment 450 to further confirm that the set 404 isconforming to the design. Furthermore, the rendering of the set designcan also be altered and presented to the user 454 in the virtual realityenvironment 450. Thus, potential changes to the set design can beproposed and visualized in the virtual reality environment 450 forconsideration by the user 454.

Referring now to FIG. 13 , a virtual location management computingsystem 500 can aid with cataloging and maintaining of set dressing forcontinuity or other purposes. A simplified version of a set 504 isschematically shown on a soundstage 502. Various props 506, 508 areshown associated with the set 504. A camera system 522 can be positionedproximate to the set 504 and can collect imagery and provide it to thevirtual location management computing system 500. As is to beappreciated, the camera system 522 can be used to collect images of theset 504 at any suitable time, such as at the end of shooting, betweentakes, and so forth.

As shown in FIG. 13 , a user 554 using a virtual reality device 552 canview the set 504 in a virtual reality environment 550. Depending on thetype of camera system 552 used, the user 554 may be able to zoom intothe virtual reality environment 550 to see details of the virtual set.Furthermore, similar to the location attributes described above, thevirtual location management computing system 500 can also storeattributes associated with the set 504, such as the theatricalproperties 506, 508, sometimes referred to as “props”. For example, foreach theatrical property 506, 508, the virtual location managementcomputing system 500 can maintain various details, such as the prophouse that supplied the theatrical property, a theatrical propertyidentification number, an invoice number as well as a variety of otherdetails. Such details can be entered by a set dresser, or other user,through a suitable interface of the virtual location managementcomputing system 500. Thus, when the user 554 views virtual props 510,512 within the virtual reality environment 550, attributes 514, 516 canbe presented. Such attributes can be useful, for example, if the set 504needs to be reconstructed for re-shooting, among a variety of otherpurposes. Additionally, in some embodiments, a script supervisor may usethe virtual reality device 552 to view the set 504 in the virtualreality environment 550 in real-time during a shoot. The scriptsupervisor can use a note taking interface, such as the note takinginterface described in FIG. 7 , to take notes regarding an actor'sinteraction with the props 506, 508.

In some embodiments, a director can access the set 504 via the virtualreality device 552 for pre-shoot planning purposes. For example, thedirector can navigate to different positions within the set 504 withinthe virtual reality environment 550 to plan various shots in advance ofphysically arriving on set 504. In this regard, camera locations, cameralenses, and so forth, can be determined in advance in order to save timeand resources. Moreover, in some embodiments, actors can be placedwithin the virtual reality environment 550 using an augmented realityoverlay. Thus, the director can plan shots with the augmented realityactors prior to the actors physically arriving on set 504.

FIG. 14 is an example process flow 600 that can be executed by a virtuallocation management computing system in accordance with one non-limitingembodiment. At 602, the process starts. At 604, 360-degree imagery isreceived by the virtual location management computing system. The360-degree imagery can be collected at a plurality of real-worldlocations, such as locations 120A-Nin FIG. 1 or location 402 in FIG. 12or location 502 in FIG. 13 , for example. Further, the 360-degreeimagery can include static images, video images, live video images,and/or combinations thereof, which are collected by various camerasystems that are temporarily or permanently deployed at the location. At606, the 360-degree images are stored in a data store. At 608, it isdetermined if attributes were received that are associated with any ofthe real-world locations. If attributes were received, the processproceeds to 610 and associates those attributes with the appropriate360-degree imagery in the data store. As provided above, the type ofattributes that can be received vary from technical attributes, tologistical and dimensional attributes, among others. At 612, aninterface is provided for a user to search and retrieve the 360-degreeimagery that had previously been collected from the real-world location,or, in the case of live video, the user can search and retrieve the360-degree imagery that is being collected in real-time from thereal-world location. At 614, a selection of one of the locations isreceived from a user. At 616, the 360-degree imagery of the selectedlocation is provided to a virtual reality headset or other virtualreality viewing device of one or more users. As is to be appreciated,the 360-degree imagery can be provided through any suitable networkconnection. At 618, it is determined if input is received from the user.Example input can be, for example, notes, rating, attributes, amongother types of inputs. If input is received, at 620, the virtuallocation management computing system can associate the user input withthe 360-degree imagery in the data store.

In general, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art thatat least some of the embodiments described herein can be implemented inmany different embodiments of software, firmware, and/or hardware. Thesoftware and firmware code can be executed by a processor or any othersimilar computing device. The software code or specialized controlhardware that can be used to implement embodiments is not limiting. Forexample, embodiments described herein can be implemented in computersoftware using any suitable computer software language type, using, forexample, conventional or object-oriented techniques. Such software canbe stored on any type of suitable computer-readable medium or media,such as, for example, a magnetic or optical storage medium. Theoperation and behavior of the embodiments can be described withoutspecific reference to specific software code or specialized hardwarecomponents. The absence of such specific references is feasible, becauseit is clearly understood that artisans of ordinary skill would be ableto design software and control hardware to implement the embodimentsbased on the present description with no more than reasonable effort andwithout undue experimentation.

Moreover, the processes described herein can be executed by programmableequipment, such as computers or computer systems and/or processors.Software that can cause programmable equipment to execute processes canbe stored in any storage device, such as, for example, a computer system(nonvolatile) memory, an optical disk, magnetic tape, or magnetic disk.Furthermore, at least some of the processes can be programmed when thecomputer system is manufactured or stored on various types ofcomputer-readable media.

It can also be appreciated that certain portions of the processesdescribed herein can be performed using instructions stored on acomputer-readable medium or media that direct a computer system toperform the process steps. A computer-readable medium can include, forexample, memory devices such as diskettes, compact discs (CDs), digitalversatile discs (DVDs), optical disk drives, or hard disk drives. Acomputer-readable medium can also include memory storage that isphysical, virtual, permanent, temporary, semi-permanent, and/orsemi-temporary.

A “computer,” “computer system,” “host,” “server,” or “processor” canbe, for example and without limitation, a processor, microcomputer,minicomputer, server, mainframe, laptop, personal data assistant (PDA),wireless e-mail device, cellular phone, pager, processor, fax machine,scanner, or any other programmable device configured to transmit and/orreceive data over a network. Computer systems and computer-based devicesdisclosed herein can include memory for storing certain software modulesused in obtaining, processing, and communicating information. It can beappreciated that such memory can be internal or external with respect tooperation of the disclosed embodiments.

In various embodiments disclosed herein, a single component can bereplaced by multiple components and multiple components can be replacedby a single component to perform a given function or functions. Exceptwhere such substitution would not be operative, such substitution iswithin the intended scope of the embodiments. The computer systems cancomprise one or more processors in communication with memory (e.g., RAMor ROM) via one or more data buses. The data buses can carry electricalsignals between the processor(s) and the memory. The processor and thememory can comprise electrical circuits that conduct electrical current.Charge states of various components of the circuits, such as solid statetransistors of the processor(s) and/or memory circuit(s), can changeduring operation of the circuits.

Some of the figures can include a flow diagram. Although such figurescan include a particular logic flow, it can be appreciated that thelogic flow merely provides an exemplary implementation of the generalfunctionality. Further, the logic flow does not necessarily have to beexecuted in the order presented unless otherwise indicated. In addition,the logic flow can be implemented by a hardware element, a softwareelement executed by a computer, a firmware element embedded in hardware,or any combination thereof.

The foregoing description of embodiments and examples has been presentedfor purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or limiting to the forms described. Numerous modificationsare possible in light of the above teachings. Some of thosemodifications have been discussed, and others will be understood bythose skilled in the art. The embodiments were chosen and described inorder to best illustrate principles of various embodiments as are suitedto particular uses contemplated. The scope is, of course, not limited tothe examples set forth herein, but can be employed in any number ofapplications and equivalent devices by those of ordinary skill in theart. Rather it is hereby intended the scope of the invention to bedefined by the claims appended hereto.

I claim:
 1. A computer-based method, comprising: storing, by a virtuallocation management computing system, 360-degree imagery of a firstphysical location and 360-degree imagery of a second physical locationin a data store; storing, by the virtual location management computingsystem, a first set of attributes associated with the first physicallocation and a second set of attributes associated with the secondphysical location in the data store; collecting, by the virtual locationmanagement computing system, a 3-D scan of a real-world accessory forsubsequent placement into a virtual environment; storing, by the virtuallocation management computing system, the 3-D scan of the real-worldaccessory; initiating, by the virtual location management computingsystem, a multi-user presentation for a plurality of users including atleast a presenting user and at least one viewing user; in response to afirst location selection received from the presenting user, providing,by the virtual location management computing system, the 360-degreeimagery of the first physical location to each of the plurality of usersthrough a virtual reality interface at a head mounted virtual realitydevice that is associated with that user; providing, by the virtuallocation management computing system, the first set of attributes forvisual presentment via the virtual reality interface in parallel withthe visual presentment of the 360-degree imagery of the first physicallocation; providing, by the virtual location management computingsystem, a visualization of the real-world accessory physically placedwithin the first physical location, wherein imagery of the real-worldaccessory based on the 3-D scan is visually presented within the360-degree imagery of the first physical location as a virtualaccessory; while the plurality of users are viewing the 360-degreeimagery of the first physical location through the virtual realityinterface, receiving, by the virtual location management computingsystem, a rating associated with the first physical location from atleast one of the plurality of users; in response to a second locationselection received from the presenting user, providing, by the virtuallocation management computing system, the 360-degree imagery of thesecond physical location for visual presentment to each of the pluralityof users through the head mounted virtual reality device that isassociated with that user, and providing the second set of attributesfor visual presentment through the virtual reality interface in parallelwith the visual presentment of the 360-degree imagery of the secondphysical location; providing, by the virtual location managementcomputing system, a visualization of the real-world accessory physicallyplaced within the second physical location, wherein imagery of thereal-world accessory is based on the 3-D scan visually presented withinthe 360-degree imagery of the second physical location as a virtualaccessory; and while the plurality of users are viewing the 360-degreeimagery of the second physical location through the virtual realityinterface, receiving, by the virtual location management computingsystem, a second rating associated with the second physical locationfrom at least one of the plurality of users.
 2. The computer-basedmethod of claim 1, wherein the first set of attributes comprisesdimensional information of the first physical location and the secondset of attributes comprises dimensional information of the secondphysical location.
 3. The computer-based method of claim 2, wherein thedimensional information of the first set of attributes visuallyidentifies a dimension of a physical attribute of the first physicallocation using an augmented reality display.
 4. The computer-basedmethod of claim 2, wherein the physical attribute is any of a doorway, awindow, and a ceiling.
 5. The computer-based method of claim 1, whereinthe first set of attributes comprises logistical information associatedwith the first physical location.
 6. The computer-based method of claim5, wherein the logistical information associated with the first physicallocation comprises parking information.
 7. A virtual location managementcomputing system, the virtual location management computing systemcomprising instructions stored in a memory, which when executed by oneor more processors of the virtual location management computing system,cause the virtual location management computing system to: store360-degree imagery of a first physical location and 360-degree imageryof a second physical location in a data store; store a first set ofattributes associated with the first physical location in the datastore; store a second set of attributes associated with the secondphysical location in the data store; collect a 3-D scan of a real-worldaccessory for subsequent placement into a virtual environment; store the3-D scan of the real-world accessory; initiate, by the virtual locationmanagement computing system, a multi-user presentation for a pluralityof users including at least a presenting user and at least one viewinguser; in response to a first location selection received from thepresenting user, provide the 360-degree imagery of the first physicallocation to each of the plurality of users through a virtual realityinterface of a head mounted virtual reality device that is associatedwith that user; provide the first set of attributes for visualpresentment via the virtual reality interface in parallel with thevisual presentment of the 360-degree imagery of the first physicallocation; provide a visualization of the real-world accessory physicallyplaced within the first physical location, wherein imagery of thereal-world accessory based on the 3-D scan is visually presented withinthe 360-degree imagery of the first physical location as a virtualaccessory; while the plurality of users are viewing the 360-degreeimagery of the first physical location through the virtual realityinterface, receive a first rating associated with the first physicallocation from at least one of the plurality of users; in response to asecond location selection received from the presenting user, provide the360-degree imagery of the second physical location to each of theplurality of users through the head mounted virtual reality device thatis associated with that user, and provide the second set of attributesfor visual presentment through the virtual reality interface in parallelwith the visual presentment of the 360-degree imagery of the secondphysical location; provide a visualization of the real-world accessoryphysically placed within the second physical location, wherein imageryof the real-world accessory based on the 3-D scan is visually presentedwithin the 360-degree imagery of the second physical location as avirtual accessory; and while the plurality of users are viewing the360-degree imagery of the second physical location through the virtualreality interface, receive a second rating associated with the secondphysical location from at least one of the plurality of users.
 8. Thevirtual location management computing system of claim 7, wherein thefirst set of attributes comprises dimensional information of the firstphysical location and the second set of attributes comprises dimensionalinformation of the second physical location.
 9. The virtual locationmanagement computing system of claim 8, wherein the dimensionalinformation of the first set of attributes is collected usinglaser-aided measurement.
 10. The virtual location management computingsystem of claim 8, wherein the physical attribute is any of a doorway, awindow, and a ceiling.
 11. The virtual location management computingsystem of claim 7, wherein the instructions further cause the virtuallocation management computing system to: provide access to the360-degree imagery of the first physical location and the 360-degreeimagery of the second physical location for visual presentment by eachof the plurality of the virtual reality devices for simultaneous visualpresentment to a plurality of users.
 12. A multi-user locationpresentation system comprising: a server comprising one or moreprocessors and memory; a plurality of head mounted virtual realitydevices in communication with the server, wherein each of the pluralityof head mounted virtual reality devices is associated with a respectiveuser of a plurality of users, and wherein the plurality of userscomprises a presenting user and at least one viewing user; wherein theone or more processors are configured to: receive a set of 360 degreeimagery captured at each of a plurality of physical locations, whereinthe set of 360 degree imagery is configured to be presented via theplurality of head mounted virtual reality devices as 360 degree virtualreality views of the plurality of physical locations; receive a 3-D scanof a real-world accessory for subsequent placement into each of aplurality of virtual environments; store the 3-D scan of the real-worldaccessory; cause a physical location selection control to display on ahead mounted virtual reality device of the presenting user, wherein thephysical location selection control is configured to allow thepresenting user to select a physical location from the plurality ofphysical locations; for each physical location selected from theplurality of physical locations received from the head mounted virtualreality device of the presenting user: cause a 360 degree imagery of theselected physical location to display on the plurality of head mountedvirtual reality devices; cause a location input interface to display onthe plurality of head mounted virtual reality devices with the 360degree imagery of the selected physical location, wherein the locationinput interface is configured to receive one or more inputs from theplurality of users and provide those one or more inputs to theprocessor, wherein the one or more inputs comprise any of a notedescribing the physical location, a rating of the physical location, andan attribute of the physical location, and cause a visualization of thereal-world accessory physically placed within the selected physicallocation, wherein imagery of the real-world accessory based on the 3-Dscan is visually presented within the 360-degree imagery of the selectedphysical location as a virtual accessory.
 13. The multi-user locationpresentation system of claim 12, wherein the one or more processors areconfigured to receive dimensional information from each of the pluralityof physical locations.
 14. The multi-user location presentation systemof claim 13, wherein the dimensional information visually identifies adimension of a physical attribute of the plurality of physical locationsusing an augmented reality display.
 15. The multi-user locationpresentation system of claim 13, wherein the physical attribute is anyof a doorway, a window, and a ceiling.
 16. The multi-user locationpresentation system of claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of headmounted virtual reality devices are physically located within the sameenvironment.
 17. The multi-user location presentation system of claim12, wherein one of the plurality of head mounted virtual reality devicesis physically located in a different environment than another of theplurality of head mounted virtual reality devices.
 18. The multi-userlocation presentation system of claim 12, wherein the physical locationselection control presents the plurality of physical locations in ahierarchy.
 19. The multi-user location presentation system of claim 18,wherein the hierarchy comprises a city listing.
 20. The multi-userlocation presentation system of claim 19, wherein the hierarchycomprises a location type listing for each city in the city listing.